The Addams Family Study Guide (PDF)

moonbathing and electric trains; as in
the cartoons, Morticia was observed
knitting three-armed garments, snipping
rosebuds from their thorny stems, and
lovingly tending her garden of poison
hemlock and deadly nightshade.”
Films
In 1991, Paramount Pictures released
the film The Addams Family. Directed
by Barry Sonnenfeld, the film starred
Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Raul
Julia as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as
Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as
Wednesday. The plot of the film centers
around a con artist and her son who try
to steal the Addams fortune by passing the son off
as Gomez’s long-lost brother, Fester. The film pays
homage to the recreates many of the iconic images
from the Family’s early appearances in The New
Yorker. The most notable reference to the original
illustrations are in the film’s opening sequence
where the Addams family pours a cauldron of oil
on some Christmas carolers. Other images drawn
from the cartoons are the passengers on Gomez’s
The character
of Wednesday was named by
Aboriginals, LTD.—the company
that made the original Addams
Family dolls for the television
series. She is named after the
line “Wednesday’s child is full of
woe” in the Mother Goose poem,
Monday’s Child is Fair
of Face.
toy train, the octopus painted on the footboard of
Wednesday’s bed, and Pugsley holding a road sign.
In 1993, a sequel arrived: Addams Family Values.
Retaining the same lead cast and director, the film
received greater critical acclaim than the first film
because it focused more on the macabre humor
that made the Family cartoons distinctive. In the
second film, the family tries to save Uncle Fester
from marrying his gold-digging new love interest,
played by Joan Cusack. The film also introduced
a new baby Addams named “Pubert” which was
Charles Addams’ original name for Pugsley. The
film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art/Set
Direction and Anjelica Huston was
cOmmerciAls And
merchAndise
The Addams Family characters and famous
theme have appeared in countless commercials
since the 1960’s including advertisements for
Addams Family cereal, Crest toothpaste, Tostitos
Tortilla Chips, Casa Modena (Spain), Coors Light
(featuring “Thing”), a 1995 Honda Odyssey
commercial featuring the cast of the second
film (Japan), and most recently as their M&Ms
counterparts to promote M&Ms Dark Candies.
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